On Thursday, The New York Times released its now infamous cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog on a blind, yarmulke-clad Donald Trump’s leash – as if to say that Trump is subservient to and blindly follows Netanyahu, Israel and Jews. The cartoon is hauntingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany propaganda, which depicted Jews as animals like cockroaches and rats, conspiring to control the world and its resources.
I’m all for satire and freedom of speech. Those two things are necessary for an open, democratic society, and I love indulging in them, but there’s a way to get a message across in a more civil and polite manner. A newspaper which is so legitimate and respected, such as the New York Times, should know this already.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon nowadays for people to use Israel as a shield against anti-semitic accusations. “I don’t hate Jews, I’m just against the Israeli government”, or some other variation of that statement is a common defense. It’s not politically correct to hate Jews, but it’s very politically correct, acceptable and even trendy to be anti Israel.
Sadly, a day after this cartoon was published, there was a shooting at a San Diego synagogue. Who’s to say if the shooter saw it beforehand or if it’s just a tragic coincidence? Personally, the most upsetting thing to me, besides the innocent woman who died in the shooting, is that an eight year old girl and her uncle, after moving from Israel to San Diego to escape Hamas rockets in their town, were injured. As an Israeli-American, it just hits too close to home. How many missile attacks and now synagogue shootings will it take for the world to finally end anti-semitism once and for all?
